Fast-break points have defined a deadlocked Sixers-Celtics series: ‘That’s the difference’

Robert Williams grabbed a rebound less than two minutes into Thursday’s critical Game 6 between the 76ers and Celtics, then hit Jayson Tatum for a quick pass in the middle of the floor. Boston’s All-Star guard kicked the ball ahead to Marcus Smart near the left wing, before the ball went back to a running Tatum under the basket.

And when two Sixers defenders swarmed Tatum, he found a streaking Williams — the man who started the seven-second sequence on the opposite end of the court — for the two-handed slam.

Those were the first two of 24 fast-break points scored by the Celtics, their highest total in an Eastern Conference semifinal during which that statistic has been magnified in a series deadlocked at 3-3 following Boston’s 95-86 season-saving victory in Philly. Boston has reached double-digit points in that category in five of the six matchups so far, reexposing the biggest weakness of an otherwise stout Sixers defense now facing Sunday’s decisive Game 7 in Boston.

“Right now, the transition game in this series is the difference in all the games,” Sixers coach Doc Rivers said following Thursday’s loss. “And they had it tonight.”

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The Sixers ranked eighth in the NBA in defensive efficiency (112.7 points per 100 possessions) during the regular season, and had high marks in several subcategories such as opponents’ three-point percentage (fifth, .348), points in the paint allowed (seventh, 48.1 per game) and second-chance points allowed (fifth, 12.7 per game).

Their most glaring flaw was fast-break points allowed, ranking 28th out of 30 teams with 15.5 per game during the regular season. The Celtics, meanwhile, were a middle-of-the-road team in transition points scored per game (14), fewer than the Sixers’ mark of 14.7 per game that was eighth in the league.

Yet Boston has had the advantage in that statistical category in five of the six games of a playoff matchup that will go the distance. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the one time the Sixers had a dominant 15-5 edge was in Tuesday’s Game 5, their most emphatic victory of the series. Sixteen of the Celtics’ 24 fast-break points Thursday came in the first half, when they built a 16-point lead that the Sixers rallied to erase before faltering offensively down the stretch.

Here’s a breakdown of the fast-break points accumulated by both teams in each game of this series:

Multiple factors have contributed to the Sixers’ struggles in this area throughout the season.

One is how they play offense. In halfcourt sets, multiple players set up on the “lower” end of the floor — closer to the baseline — in the corner outside the three-point arc or in the “dunker” spot underneath the basket. That allows Joel Embiid, the NBA’s Most Valuable Player and leading scorer during the regular season, the space to operate with the ball in his hands. It also naturally creates more ground for those players to cover when play begins to shift to the opposite end off a missed Sixers shot or turnover.

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And when the Sixers take tough attempts when the floor is unbalanced — or simply shoot at their poor 36.1% clip from Thursday night — it makes it even easier for an opponent to get out in the open court.

“The whole key was, really, they got a lot of run-outs [and] lucky bounces off of missed shots,” Embiid said after the loss. “They got a lot of opportunity to just get in transition and attack early due to those misses and crashing the boards.”

Added reserve forward Georges Niang: “When the ball hits off [the rim], they’re taking off with speed.”

That guards Tyrese Maxey and James Harden, two below-average defenders, are often the Sixers’ initial line of defense in such scenarios is not ideal. But stifling transition play first requires the effort to sprint and turn. Communication is also important to account for each opposing player and not get “cross-matched” by having a big man wind up on a guard or vice versa — unless that’s by design, perhaps to put a longer or more physical defender in the path of a smaller ballhandler.

For Sixers opponents, unleashing a fast break also often means they will not need to face the imposing, rim-protecting presence of Embiid, who has totaled 16 blocks in his five games played in this series.

“That’s their easiest way of scoring,” Niang said. “You want to make teams make multiple passes on a fast break. … Our set defense, I don’t know the numbers, but I think it’s pretty good. I feel comfortable with it.”

The Celtics can be a particularly challenging matchup in this area because they have multiple players who can initiate a fast break, Harden said. Maxey added that Boston uses transition to generate three-pointers, which accounted for six of those 16 first-half fast-break points Thursday.

“You’re taught to get back and run to the paint,” Maxey said. “… But you’ve also got to spray out [to the perimeter], because they’re running to the three-point line. They’re driving and kicking to get threes, and they put you in tough situations.”

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Rivers said before Thursday’s tipoff that he expected the Celtics to try to push the pace with their season on the line, and that limiting such sequences was a primary focus for his team’s defensive game plan. A few hours later, Harden echoed his coach when Boston’s first-half total in fast-break points was relayed back to him, saying, “That’s too many.”

“That’s the difference in the game right there,” Harden said.

And it might be the statistical category that swings Sunday’s season-defining Game 7.